October 8 Read James 1:13
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
This scripture pretty much says it all. If you are tempted, it isn’t coming from God. He doesn’t come to you and say, “I dare you to do this… if you are as smart, funny, brave, whatever as you say you are, you will do this.” He cannot be tempted, and because He is our Almighty God, he doesn’t have any need to tempt others. He knows Who He is… do you?
October 9 Read Matthew 4: 1-10
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward he was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But he answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you.’ and ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”
Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
Now, you do realize that Jesus could have done any of these things the devil suggested, don’t you? He could have chosen at any point to leave the wilderness, to feed himself, to have or do whatever He pleased. So why did He choose to suffer in the wilderness for 40 days?
I believe Jesus was all about example – He wanted to live His life as an example of how we should live ours. This was His example of how to resist the devil and his temptation. This was an extreme example, but if we can learn to follow Christ in the extreme examples, it will be just that much easier to follow Him in the “lesser” ones. And that’s what it’s all about – following Him all things, both great and small.
October 10 Read Matthew 16:1
Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.
If you read on in this passage, you see that Jesus said it wouldn’t really matter what he did – the Pharisees and Sadducees would twist it and turn it to fit their own uses. So much of life is like that. People see and believe what they want, no matter what you do, so trying to please others is a waste of time. Stay true to God, follow Him, answer to Him, and let others think what they will. In the end, they will see that you were true to your God, and you will be the winner. It may not happen immediately, or even in your earthly life, but yours will eventually be the victory if you stay close to Christ.
October 11 Read Matthew 16:23
But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but of the things of men.”
To fully understand this scripture, you have to look back a few verses to see what was happening. Jesus was explaining to His disciples that He was going to have to suffer, be mistreated, and ultimately be crucified. Peter just couldn’t accept this, and he was pleading with Jesus to save Himself.
Jesus realized that Satan was using Peter to tempt Him to avoid the cross and saving all of us from our sins. Surely, were that you or me, instead of Jesus, we would have probably done whatever we could to avoid such incomprehensible suffering and pain. But Jesus knew what He had to do – what He had to endure for each one of us, and because of His amazing love, He did it all.
This scripture points out that Satan uses anyone he can to tempt us to do wrong. He used a disciple of Jesus to tempt Jesus Himself. We must guard ourselves and be very mindful of this and make sure that our friends, family members – the very people closest to us – are not used by the devil to tempt us to sin. Pray that God will grant you wisdom to recognize sinful temptation and to resist it, no matter who it comes from.
October 12 Read Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Jesus understands temptation better than anyone else. How/why? Because He was tempted, over and over again, in every way imaginable. So, we say, “But, Lord, it’s just so hard not to overeat. Lord, it’s just so hard not to curse. Lord, it’s just so hard not to give in and have sex, drink, smoke, do drugs, overeat, gossip, or whatever is our downfall and temptation.” And you know what He says? “I know – I’ve been there.”
But there’s something else he says… “I’ve been there – and I did it (resisted the temptation) – and YOU can resist it, too.” He invites you to have faith, to “walk on water” with Him, and let Him help you resist these temptations and more. And you know what else? The more you do it, the easier it gets!
October 13 Read Hebrews 2:18
For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
Has there ever been a time in your life when something happened to a friend or someone you knew, and you thought, “I know just how he/she feels… I’ve been there myself.” Well, that’s how it is for Jesus – every day! He knows how we feel – He’s been there. Everything we feel and experience -- including temptations – He has felt and experienced already. So He is able to help us. Listen to Him, and let Him guide you. He knows – He KNOWS!!!
October 14 Read Luke 4:1-7
Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”
Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan!”
I know we read an account of this same event just a few days ago, from the book of Matthew. But notice that it was such an important part of Jesus’ ministry that more than one writer records it. Here, Luke shows us that the devil had a lot of power – and he still does! He offers us what seems like the moon sometimes, but there is always a catch. In order to accept his temptation, we have to serve him, and any time we serve the devil, we are not serving God. In that light, it seems an easy choice, doesn’t it? But I tell you, the devil is smart, conniving, and very, very persuasive. He makes it all look so good and so easy and so harmless. And Jesus knows this, because He Himself has been tempted by the devil.
So flee the devil. The next time he tempts you, tell him to “Get behind me.” And then don’t look back – look ahead to Jesus.
©Debbie Robus 2004
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